An overlooked image on the Hoa-haka-nana‘ia stone statue from Easter Island in the British Museum
| dc.contributor.author | Davletshin, Albert | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2021-11-12T22:27:49Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2012-05-01 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The Hoa-haka-nanaʻia stone statue in the British Museum in London is one of the most well-known specimens of pre-contact Rapa Nui art. An important object of the tangata manu (birdman) cult, it was originally situated at the ceremonial village of ‘Orongo. It is famous for the designs of two birdmen, a manutara (sooty tern), ‘ao (ceremonial paddles), and komari (vulva) symbols carved on its back and painted with bright colors. This paper is dedicated to the documentation and analysis of a hitherto unrecognized image carved on statue’s front torso. The image is described, tentatively drawn, and analyzed for the first time, and is defined as an “atypical” birdman, which grasps an egg in its extended hand without fingers, is crowned with feathers, and has a long hooked beak holding one more egg. Several komari symbols and other unclear designs may surround this figure. The image is badly obliterated. Its “pecking and abrading” method of carving differs from the method of carving used for the dorsal designs. Tentatively defined stylistic traits of the birdman carved on the statue’s front are different from the two birdmen of the late phase on its back and permit us to potentially date the frontal image to earlier times. The finding opens the question of multiple re-use of this unique statue and its exceptional role in the birdman cult. | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 1040-1385(Print) | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2576-5469(ISSN) | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10524/64967 | |
| dc.subject | Easter Island | |
| dc.subject | Rapa Nui | |
| dc.title | An overlooked image on the Hoa-haka-nana‘ia stone statue from Easter Island in the British Museum | |
| dc.type | Article | |
| dc.type.dcmi | Text | |
| prism.number | 1 | |
| prism.volume | 26 |
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